1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for managing environmental information and, more particularly, to a technique for managing environmental information about products.
2. Related Background Art
In general, a design system is used to manage, in designing of a product, product constitution information, drawings, parts specifications, etc. A procurement system is used to manage procurement results, i.e., information on parts and dealers, information on parts and raw materials, etc. Such design and procurement systems and environmental information about parts are not linked with each other, and it is difficult to obtain environmental information about a product. To obtain environmental information about a product, it is necessary to manually check information used in the design system, information used in the procurement system, and environmental information about parts and materials with each other. The process of manually checking such information is complicated and requires a great deal of labor.
On the other hand, makers, etc., are requested to consider environmental problems and to produce products friendly to environmental, and there is a demand for a system which enables effective use of environmental information.